Category: Weekly Thoughts

We recently encountered a situation with a builder of a new home in the near western suburbs of Chicago. An Illinois State law requires that a skeletal radon mitigation system be installed in all new construction homes in accordance with the Radon Resistant New Construction (RRNC) Act written in 2013. The RRNC Act is a law in Illinois (read more about it HERE.) The difference between state law and local code is that there is no variation in a law between each village, city or county, but there can be a variation in a code.

We are all human – and even a village inspector can miss a code violation. However, it doesn’t relieve the builder of their responsibility for the violation.

During a recent activation of a skeletal system, we found the following violations after the builder had passed all of the Village inspections:

1. Ground water sump cover was not sealed in an airtight manner.
2. Wall/floor joints and cold joints were not sealed.
3. Other penetrations in the floor were not sealed.
4. The primary suction point was not installed to code – it was buried into the clay below the loose stone. No air movement was even possible.

During the purchasing process, the builder promised that they would fix and resolve any issues with the house. The new owner thought that getting the builder to fix these issues would be easy. He was wrong. Now the builder will not resolve these issues. Their position was that since the Village inspector approved the work, it meant that it passed the inspection and met all codes. Let’s face it – mistakes happen, and a good builder will fix the mistakes and learn from them. This builder refused to meet with us so that we could show him how to correctly install the system according to the law and improve his product.

Think of this analogy: Just because I don’t know the speed limit, does not give me an excuse to speed. And just because a police officer doesn’t catch me speeding, I was still breaking the law by speeding.

I am telling you this story because this is a real health issue and mistakes are being made that need to be fixed. We are doing our best to educate builders, inspectors, property owners, and anyone else who wants to listen about the correct, science-based ways to install a radon system.

We have worked with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), attorney general, and news stations to help our clients get what is legally owed to them. We are here to help you get what you paid for.

The consistency of great food at McDonald’s is a given. However, recently a patron of a local McDonald’s noticed a chemical taste in the food. He informed the restaurant and they immediately began to investigate the cause of the chemical taste. They determined that the chemical smell came from a recent process that was completed by the Village to re-line the sewer pipes underneath the restaurant. The chemical leaked out of the pipes and into the soil, which in turn was drawn into the restaurant.

The owners tried to stop the odor by sealing around mechanical penetrations in the concrete slab and making sure all traps in the plumbing were functioning properly. The odor did not decrease. The restaurant was looking for an experienced company and got our name from one of our competitors, Guardian Radon Mitigation. We responded on the same day and the system was designed and installed within 48 hours.

The restaurant owner had hired us to install a vapor intrusion mitigation system to address the strong chemical odor. With our science-based design, the system was increased in size to offset the negative pressures that are created when the kitchen exhaust fans are in use during normal operation.

The harmful vapor is now gone and the restaurant can continue to help feed the neighborhood with safe and enjoyable food. We are committed to providing fast, professional installation and expertise to all of our commercial and residential clients.

All radon mitigation companies are licensed by the State of Illinois. However, this license only means that they have a basic understanding of radon and paid the licensing fee – not knowledge of the building codes for a properly constructed radon system. Very few mitigation contractors have the knowledge, experience, and common sense with building codes and construction to properly install a radon reduction system.

To an untrained eye, this looks like a normal radon system. But this system is noisy and has quite a few issues that could affect the sale of your home and the health of your family.

Recently we were hired to perform a post-mitigation radon test for a homeowner in Naperville, IL. The client recently had a radon system installed by another contractor as part of their contractual obligation for the sale of their house.

When the client greeted me, one of the first things that the homeowner said to me was, “can you hear the radon system?” I immediately heard the excessive noise coming from the system. All mechanical systems make noise, but excessive noise that you can hear in the kitchen and family room is not acceptable and will scare any buyer away. If installed correctly and following building codes, radon systems should not be heard.

After I set up my radon testing devices, I started to inspect the radon system. I found the following installation errors:

Excessive noise: All exterior wall-mount pipe fasteners had no anti-vibration material affixed. Also, the pipe clamp is forcing the exhaust pipe onto the house, spreading the vibration noise throughout the house. This excessive noise will disrupt the homeowner’s sleep and will kill a real estate deal.Solution: Adding anti-vibration material separates the clamp from the pipe and from the house, eliminating vibration noise transferring to the side of the house. Additionally, our type of clamps keep the pipe about ½” off the house except where the clamp is actually attached with the anti-vibration material.

Rubber couplings that were used are not specifically designed for radon mitigation systems; the contractor used rubber couplings designed for plumbing, which typically do not have to deal with vibration.Solution: We now use special LDVI (Low-Durometer, Vibration-Isolating) couplings. They add a bit more cost but are several times quieter than the standard-issue plumbing couplings that our competitors use.

The intake connection to the radon fan did not meet the ASTM E2121 recommendations.Solution: To further reduce system noise and improve system efficiency, International Standard ASTM E2121 fan installation recommendations should be followed. In this case, the radon fan should be installed 2.5 feet above the 90 degree elbow.

Radon fan was on the same circuit as the sump pump. This electrical code error could cause the breaker to trip, thus the sump pump would not turn on to discharge water within the pit. This could cause thousands of dollars to fix the water damage in the home.Solution: Radon fans should never be connected to critical circuits such as sump pumps, ejector pumps, furnaces, smoke detectors, and any motors.

Radon contractor damaged floor joist due to inexperience

Structural damage to floor joists. Defying building codes and destroying the structural integrity of the floor joist should not be the end result of a professionally installed radon system. This contractor did not follow building code and drilled through the floor joist too close to the bottom of it. By code, holes must be at least 2 inches from the top and bottom edges of a joist and maximum hole size is one-third of the joist depth. Family safety and maintaining building integrity is dependent on doing the right job.

Your home should be a safe and healthy refuge for the entire family. While you may be diligent about minimizing your exposure to household chemicals, there may be other substances causing health threats throughout your home. To protect yourself and your loved ones, beware of the following home health hazards:

1. Radon

What is radon?
Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that comes from the decay of uranium in the soil. Radon tends to enter buildings at its lowest point. It typically moves up into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. It is then trapped inside where it can build up and become hazardous.

About one in 15 homes have high levels of radon, with levels usually being the highest in basements and first-floor rooms that have contact with soil. Two adjacent homes, even two adjacent rooms, can differ significantly in their levels of radon. This helpful resource shows the areas of the U.S. with the highest natural levels.

Why is it dangerous?
Known as the “silent killer,” radon is invisible, odorless, and tasteless, so you may have the toxin present in your home and not even know it. Exposure to radon for long periods of time increases your risk of developing lung cancer, especially if you smoke.
How do I test for radon?

There are no immediate signs or symptoms to alert you to the presence of radon. So if you haven’t checked for it in the past two years, or if you’ve done some remodeling, be sure to test your home. You can hire a professional tester or you can buy a test online or at a hardware store to do it yourself.

When should I call a professional?
If your home has a radon level of four picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L) or higher, it has become a health hazard and you need to make changes immediately. However, there is technically no safe level of radon, so you may still want to take action if the level is between two and four pCi/L. Lowering high radon levels requires technical knowledge and special skills. Therefore, the EPA recommends hiring a qualified radon mitigation contractor to assess and fix your home.

2. Carbon Monoxide

What is carbon monoxide?
Carbon Monoxide is a toxic gas found in the fumes of fuels that contain carbon, such as wood, coal, and gasoline. Household tools and appliances that can produce the gas include grills, lanterns, generators, home features like your fireplace and furnace, and even your car or truck.

Why is it dangerous?
This toxic gas causes the most nondrug poisoning deaths in the United States. Because CO is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, people can die from carbon monoxide poisoning while they’re asleep without ever waking up. The problem occurs when carbon monoxide is produced but isn’t provided anywhere to exit the home, causing the toxin to build up and reach hazardous levels.

How do I prevent CO poisoning?
• Don’t use a generator or gasoline/charcoal-burning device indoors, including garages or basements. Be sure to place them outside, at least 20 feet from windows or doors.
• Have all fuel-burning home heating systems inspected and serviced each year.
• Never run your car or truck inside of a garage and always leave the door open if you’re doing so in a detached garage. Also, be sure to have your car or truck’s exhaust system checked each year.

How do I test for carbon monoxide?
Every home needs a carbon monoxide detector. If your home doesn’t have working CO alarms installed, stop what you are doing and install them immediately. Be sure to have detectors on each level of the home and outside all bedrooms.
When should I call a professional?

The initial symptoms of CO poisoning can be mistaken for flu symptoms. You should suspect CO poisoning if more than one member of the family is sick and if those who are sick feel better after being away from the home. You should also go to the hospital right away if you’ve been exposed to a source of CO, even if you don’t show symptoms of CO poisoning.
If you think CO is affecting you or if your detector alerts you to an excess of CO in your home, go outside immediately and call 911. Don’t reenter your home until the emergency responders say it’s safe. Afterward, you will want to have your home inspected to determine the root cause of the issue so that you can call the appropriate technician to fix the problem.

Lead paint in home

3. Lead Paint

What is lead paint?
Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. The primary source of lead poisoning is lead-based paint. Poisoning occurs by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips that contain the hazardous substance. Found most frequently in homes built before 1978, lead paint creates toxic dust when it cracks or peels. This can occur on both the inside and outside of your home.

Why is it dangerous?
Lead poisoning is a serious condition and at very high levels, it can be fatal. Lead is toxic to everyone, but children younger than six years are especially vulnerable. It can cause a range of adverse health effects, including behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, and other major health problems.

How do I test for lead?
If your home was built before 1978, the EPA strongly recommends that either a certified lead inspector or a certified lead risk assessor do lead tests. You can test for lead yourself with an at-home kit. However, these DIY tests don’t provide the details that an inspection or a risk assessment does.

How do I prevent lead poisoning?
If your home tests positive for lead, take these measures to keep your family safe:
• Keep children away from peeling paint or chewable surfaces painted with lead-based paint.
• Wash your children’s hands and toys regularly.
• Regularly clean floors, windowsills, and other surfaces using wet methods.
• Use doormats and remove shoes before entering so lead dust does not settle on floors and carpets.

Mold inside home

4. Mold

What is Mold?
Molds are various types of fungi. In small amounts, mold spores are usually harmless. However, once the spores are inside and have a source of moisture to feed on, mold growth can spread like wildfire. Mold can enter your home through windows, vents, and doorways. It can also make its way inside by attaching itself to clothing or pets. If undetected for long enough, it can damage the structure of your house and harm the health of those living inside of it. If caught early, this can be an easy problem to fix.

Why is it dangerous?
Some of the more minor health effects from mold exposure are chronic cough and fatigue, eye irritation, headaches, and skin rashes. If left untreated, mold can cause a variety of more extreme health issues like asthma, vomiting, allergy development, circulatory damage, and compromised immunity, making one even more vulnerable to further risks.

How do I prevent mold from growing?
• Act quickly when water leaks or spills occur indoors.
• Remove or replace carpets that have been soaked and aren’t dried promptly. Consider not using carpet in rooms or areas like bathrooms or basements that may have a lot of moisture.
• Ventilate shower, laundry, and cooking areas.
• Wash shower curtains and bathroom tiles regularly with mold-killing products.
• Promptly fixing leaky roofs, windows, and pipes.
• Keep humidity levels as low as you can – no higher than 50% – all day long.

When should I call a professional?
Combating mold can be a fact of life for those who live in humid climates. In some situations, homeowners can remove mold themselves. However, it’s best to call a professional if –
• The mold covers a large area (greater than three feet by three feet, according to the EPA).
• If you can smell mold, but you can’t find the problem.
• If anyone in the home has a medical condition that mold exposure could worsen.
• There is mold in your heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning system.
• If moisture has created structural problems.

Did you ever wonder why we ever started doing radon testing and radon mitigation in homes? Did someone just get up in the morning and think to themselves, “I think I’ll check my house for radon today.” No …that would be silly! But, it’s actually a very interesting tale!

It was discovered quite by accident through a man named Stanley Watras, who was a construction engineer. In 1984, while working at Limerick Nuclear Power Plant in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, he set off their new radiation detectors. The rest, as they say, is history!

Stanley J. Watras was a construction engineer at the Limerick nuclear power plant in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. A monitor was installed at the plant to check workers to make sure they did not accidentally accumulate an unsafe dose of radiation at work.

One day, on his way to work, Mr. Watras entered the plant and set off the radiation monitor alarms that help protect workers by detecting exposure to radiation. Safety personnel checked him out, but could not find the source of the radiation. Interestingly, because the plant was under construction at the time, there was no nuclear fuel at the plant, so there was no way for Mr. Watras to have been exposed to any radiation at work.

Eventually, they discovered that Mr. Watras was not picking up the radiation at work, but rather was bringing it to work from home! A team of specialists was sent to the Watras’ home to investigate. There, they measured radiation levels about 700 times higher than the maximum level considered safe for human exposure (the home tested at 2,700 pCi/L and a safe level is at or below 4 pCi/L). The source of this enormous amount of radiation turned out to be radon, a naturally-occurring gas that made its way into the Watras home from underground. It had nothing to do with Mr. Watras’ job. The entire family was living in an environment roughly equivalent to smoking a couple of hundred packs of cigarettes per day. They moved out of the house immediately, while the problem was being fixed.

After Mr. Watras and his family evacuated their house, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Pennsylvania officials turned it into a laboratory for long-term measurement of radon and radon decay products and evaluation of radon mitigation techniques. After many months, they reduced the radon concentration to an acceptable level, and the family was able to return. After installing a radon-reduction system, radon levels in the home tested below 4 pCi/L.

Although this case occurred in 1984, residential indoor radon exposure as a health hazard flies below the radar of many real estate professionals. Radon is a Class A carcinogen, which means it is known to cause cancer in humans. Most people do not know that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, resulting in approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Only smoking causes more lung cancers.

The U.S. Surgeon General and the EPA recommend that all homes in the United States be tested for radon. In fact, in May 1993, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) joined the EPA in urging all Americans to test their homes for radon. The NAR encouraged state associations to develop and support legislation or regulation requiring mandatory property condition disclosure, including radon, by the seller.

Basements Are Wet

Unless it’s built like a boat, with proper exterior waterproofing and radon control systems in place, a basement is a dangerous space to finish. The ground around a basement is almost always wet, and the walls and concrete slab are porous; CMUs and mortar joints are super-porous. A basement may look dry, but that’s because the walls and floor are being heated, converting liquid water into vapor, which is pulled into the air. As soon as you cover up those surfaces and insulate, which restricts airflow and moves the condensation point to the interior surface of the foundation wall, you’ll have wet walls and floors.

A basement should be built like a boat to keep water out. But most houses are built on porous walls and floors with nothing between the wet and the dry. In a house that is built like a sieve, if you want finish materials in the basement, you first have to manage the moisture in the walls and floor. To be successful, there are a few simple things you absolutely must do, and a few you absolutely must avoid.

Here’s a list of Dos and Don’ts, plus some illustrations that show everything you need.

Drainage

DO install a drain-tile system with a sump pump that discharges any water within a minimum of 5 feet from the foundation.DO extend interior drainboard from the drain tile up to at least 6 inches above grade. Best is a dimpled sheathing.

Walls

DO frame with steel studs set on a capillary break, such as a sill seal (this also helps with uneven floors).DO hold framing 1 inch away from the foundation walls—no exceptions!DO spray high-density polyurethane foam 2 to 3 inches thick behind the stud wall and all the way up onto the rim joist. If you choose to use batt insulation, don’t let it touch the foundation walls.DO install paperless drywall, and hold it ½ inch off the floor.DON’T let the wall framing touch the walls or the floor (treated lumber wicks water).

Floor

DO install an active Sub-Slab Depressurization System (SSDS) to control moisture and radon. The SSDS can remove up to 10 gallons of water a day from under your home, helping to improve air quality and reduce the potential for mold and musty odors. As a side benefit, it will also reduce radon levels in your home!DO use moisture-resistant flooring, such as ceramic tile or vinyl composition tile. If you want the look of wood, cover the slab with a vapor-control layer with taped seams and install a glued or dry-fit engineered click-lock floating floor system.DON’T install carpet.

While the health benefits of installing a radon mitigation system are priceless, we know that the cost may seem out of reach to some. That is why we have put together this list of ways to lower the cost of installing a system.

There is an easy to find coupon on our website for $25 off.

We also offer a 3.67% discount for payments made with cash.

Angie’s List users will find a $100 discount coupon for systems designed with a warranty for radon levels of 2.0 pCi/l or better.

Our Customer Referral Program offers previous customers $50 for each referral that results in a new customer radon mitigation system installation.

We offer $50 for customer testimonial videos or $100 for those we use.

There are tax advantages in using a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account to fund the mitigation.

You might also be interested in the Community Development Block Grant Entitlement Program:
https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-entitlement/

Radon is an invisible gas formed in the Earth’s crust. It is in the air all around us and can get trapped indoors. Inhaling high radon levels over long periods of time is detrimental to your health. In fact, radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year according to the EPA. That is approximately 60 people per day.

High radon gas levels are easily preventable with long term measuring and the right ventilation. Together we can stop radon from being the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.

The illustrated radon information guide on the left includes where radon originates from, the easy first steps to reduce radon in the home. On top of this, we have provided four radon risk factors to think about. Share with your friends and family, so they can have the easy steps to reduce radon indoors too!

Read this account of a customer’s radon mitigation journey

We tested our house for radon with both a short term (3-day) and a long term (3 month) test. Each showed very high levels of radon. Being somewhat handy, I thought I’d be able to reduce the levels on my own. I encapsulated our crawl space and patched any cracks in the basement floor before installing a wood plank floor over a plastic vapor barrier. After these changes, another test showed the radon level still at 25 pCi/l. So we decided radon mitigation was necessary.

As with most major expenditures, I decided to obtain a number of quotes from reputable licensed radon mitigation companies. I ended up with four quotes that were within a few hundred dollars of each other. Three of the quotes were very similar: putting a suction point in the basement and crawl space. They did vary in the way in which the pipe exited the house.
Then there was Elliott’s quote. Not the least expensive nor the most expensive, but his was the most detailed and offered a much better warranty. He was the only one to mention the diagnostic testing they use to determine the proper area to install the suction points and also determine the size of fan required. He was the only one to suggest a third suction point from our attached garage.

Since our basement is semi-finished, I was concerned that the PVC pipes they ran would look out of place. His install team took this into consideration and you wouldn’t know I had a radon system installed unless I pointed it out.

If your radon level is high – I recommend a call to Elliott and Associates.

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Elliott & Associates

Protecting families from radon for over 30 years. We have dedicated ourselves to providing the best customer service at the best value. When you hire Elliott & Associates you can be sure that you will be provided with amazing and professional service from your first phone call to the final completed system and beyond.